


The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Agents

by msraven



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cabin Fic, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, First Time, Get Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-04 07:58:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1078490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msraven/pseuds/msraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil has an unsurprising competency kink and the Battle of Manhattan opens his eyes to a new possibility. Now he just needs the holidays and a certain archer to cooperate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Agents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jmathieson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmathieson/gifts).



> Special thanks, as always, to kultiras -- my constant beta and brain twin. ♥

Phil is embarrassed to admit that he never considers Clint Barton as a potential long-term partner until after the Battle of Manhattan. It has nothing to do with his near-death experience. After all, those are almost routine when you work for SHIELD. What catches his attention is watching video footage of the Helicarrier attack and Clint's interrogation afterwards. Clint answers every question unflinchingly, outlining how he had used everything he knew about SHIELD and the Avengers to tip the advantage in Loki's favor and the steps he would have taken to ensure their victory had he escaped with Loki as planned. Hawkeye had nearly taken down SHIELD, the Avengers, and Earth with his talent, ingenuity, and agile mind. Phil finds himself intrigued and more than a little aroused.

It's probably not a surprise that Phil has a huge competency kink. There is nothing that turns Phil on more than a person displaying their mastery of a skill or talent. The skill itself doesn't matter as much as the person's unrivaled proficiency. Phil's dating history is an eclectic mix of singers, scientists, engineers, chefs, musicians, and, on the one memorable occasion, a mud wrestler. 

Phil knows that Clint will be different from the others, and not just because he's been resisting his attraction to the unparalleled marksman for years. Beyond the desire is admiration, trust, and a solid base of friendship. Phil doesn't just want Clint in his bed – that in itself would not be a challenge. What he wants is Clint in his life, permanently. 

The plan itself is simple: use Clint's love of the upcoming holidays to make him amenable to a romantic relationship with Phil and let him see Phil as more than just another agent, more than just a friend.

Phil starts out by arranging for a meeting at NBC near the end of the day, so that the tree at Rockefeller Center is brightly lit by the time they leave. Clint's eyes are predictably drawn to the tree as they exit the building and Phil nudges his shoulder before walking towards the tree with a warm smile. They end up drinking hot chocolate and watching the tourists ice skate, some with more success than others. Both of them wince and then laugh as they watch a young man, clearly trying to impress his date, barrel into two other couples and leave them all in a heap on the ice. They lean into each other as they laugh and don't move apart for the rest of the time they're there. 

"This was nice," Clint says as they start the walk back to HQ, "Fun. It's always nice to spend time with you away from SHIELD."

Phil smiles and returns the sentiment, happily considering phase one a success.

From there, it's easy to get Clint's name in the SHIELD Secret Santa exchange. It's not required from everyone who participates in the exchange, but Phil leaves Clint little presents in his locker each morning – everything from his favorite candy bar, to a snow globe with a mini circus tent inside, to a cookie from his favorite bakery. The daily gifts are small, but they're enough to tell Clint that his Secret Santa is someone who cares enough to pay attention.

When Pepper suggests that the Avengers and SHIELD take part in putting together and delivering meals to needy families, Phil makes sure he's teamed up with Clint. They laugh and joke as they pack their assigned meals, delivering them to the awed and thankful families who all somehow sense a kindred spirit in the man who had clawed his way up from the mire to become an Avenger. Clint is quiet as they leave the last apartment, but he gives Phil a small smile and bumps their shoulders together when they hit the sidewalk.

"Coffee before heading back?" Clint asks.

Phil pauses, pretending to think even though he'd done his research before leaving the Tower. "I think I may have a better idea," he finally replies and leads them to a small, family-owned diner a few blocks away.

They talk over cups of homemade eggnog and eventually stay for dinner at the insistence of the family matriarch, who tells them that Christmas is a time for indulgence before plying them with so much food that they barely fit through the door on their way out. Phil agrees readily when Clint suggests walking instead of the subway or a cab and he thinks that fate may be on his side when a light snow begins to fall, forcing them to huddle together for added warmth as they make their way back to the Tower. 

Phil should have known better than to let himself be lulled into a false sense of security. A ride out to check on a SHIELD safe house had seemed like another great opportunity to spend more time alone with Clint. The drive itself had been great, up until an axle broke on the jeep and a sudden snowstorm blew in, making aerial extraction impossible. Now they were stuck in a remote cabin on Christmas Eve with no way to get back to New York in time for the culmination of Phil's plans – a grand, romantic gesture at the Stark holiday party. 

"Come on, Phil," Clint says as Phil glares out the window at the offending blanket of snow. "It isn't all that bad. Definitely not bad enough to warrant you looking like you're plotting to murder Jack Frost."

"You're taking this better than I would have expected you to," Phil responds, turning away from the window toward Clint, who shrugs. 

"Considering all the places I've been stuck in for SHIELD, this place is nearly palatial. We're warm, there's no shortage of firewood, the pantry is well stocked, and well..." Clint shrugs again and looks down at his boots. "...the company's pretty good."

"Your company is the only good thing about this situation," Phil replies honestly, most of his anger and frustration fading when Clint beams happily at him. 

"Really? I mean, I kind of guessed that. You've been, uh... very attentive lately."

Phil smiles and steps closer to Clint, glad that his efforts haven't gone completely unnoticed. "I'm sorry you're missing Christmas."

"Is that why you're upset?" Clint asks, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Because you think I'm missing Christmas?"

"You love Christmas," Phil points out and sweeps a hand out to encompass their surroundings. "No tree, no presents, no Christmas dinner or cookies. Not exactly how you planned to spend Christmas."

"I've always loved Christmas and most of them were spent without anything you just listed. Not that all of that isn't fun, but it's not what's important."

"What is important?"

From anyone else, Phil would expect a trite answer about the Christmas spirit, but not Clint. "When I was a kid, it was the one time a year my dad was actually happy and we could pretend we were a normal family. At the orphanage, it was the toy donations – something that, for just an instant, belonged only to you. At the circus, it was the bearded lady's gingerbread cookies. After that, it was figuring out a way to give a little something back because no matter how shitty my life was, someone's was always worse."

"And now?" Phil asks, standing close enough now for them to share a breath. 

"Now it's spending Christmas with the people that I care about," Clint whispers, "and hoping that a certain person has a reason for all the sudden attention."

Phil leans in and their first kiss is quiet and peaceful, with just a hint of passion simmering under the surface. It's nothing like the heated kiss Phil had been anticipating at the party, but it's perfect all the same. 

"I was wooing you," Phil confesses against Clint's lips as they pull apart.

Clint, whose hands had migrated to Phil's hips during the kiss, laughs and leans back enough to look at Phil without going cross-eyed. "Wait. You're serious?"

Phil nods and pulls Clint back into his arms, punctuating his words with nips and kisses along the corded muscles of Clint neck and then his jaw, "You're exquisite. Your body, your mind, your heart, your soul. I want all of you."

Clint arches into Phil greedily. "I'm already yours."

Their next kiss is deeper, hotter. Phil's need for Clint is fueled by years of suppressed desire and weeks of close proximity, and he's pleasantly surprised when Clint eagerly meets and matches his hunger. Clint doesn't resist as Phil maneuvers them toward the plush rug in front of the fireplace, stripping off his shirt and sweater in one graceful movement as as they go. Phil pauses to look his fill, but Clint pulls him in for another kiss and he settles for memorizing the muscled planes of Clint's back and shoulders with touch alone.

Every sensation burns itself into Phil's memory as they remove the rest of their clothing and fall together onto the rug. The firelight dances over Clint's body and sets his eyes ablaze as he reaches for Phil. Callused fingers grip and caress Phil's heated skin, soft lips and sharp teeth kissing and biting a trail down his body, before there is nothing but wet heat and the slide of a talented tongue taking him to the brink and over. Then Clint's warm weight is back, pressing Phil into the soft material beneath him, and Phil revels in every delicious, uninhibited sound that spill from his partner's lips as Clint flies apart above him.

"Much better than a Christmas party," Clint hums against Phil's shoulder once they've caught their breaths, neither of them eager to move apart.

It takes a few moments for Phil's brain cells to re-engage, taking Clint's words and reconciling it with the string of unlikely events that landed them here. 

"You planned this," Phil says, more fond than accusatory.

Clint only moves enough to prop his chin on Phil chest to look him in the eye. "Yes, with help. The cabin actually belongs to Tony, the axle was Bruce's idea, implemented by Nat, and the storm is courtesy of Thor."

"No contribution from Steve?"

"Steve was the one who clued me in that you were probably planning something big, which Pepper corroborated. Are you mad?"

Phil thinks about the perfectly placed sprig of mistletoe, the beautifully wrapped present under the large Christmas tree, and the prepared speech he'd practiced, complete with musical accompaniment, and shakes his head. "No. Far from mad. You're right, this is much better."

Clint reaches up to give Phil a tender kiss and Phil can't help thinking of the Christmases yet to come, when Clint's kisses will go from heady and new, to familiar and intimate. He can't imagine a better present that this.

"Happy Christmas, Clint."

"Happy Christmas, Phil."

_fin_


End file.
